Drowning by Numbers (1988)

Tired of her husband's philanderous ways, the mother of two daughters drowns her husband. With the reluctant help of the local coroner, the murder is obscured (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Peter Greenaway
Written By: Peter Greenaway
Starring: Bernard Hill, David Morrissey, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Paul Mooney, Bryan Pringle, Trevor Cooper, Kenny Ireland, John Rogan, Jason Edwards, Jane Gurnett
Country: Netherlands, UK
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Drowning by Numbers belongs to 27 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (public: moderated by kozan26 - 226 stars)
2. boobs (public: moderated by Pickpocket - 50 stars)
3. Uncanny, Disturbingly Weird Films (public: moderated by paulofilmo - 41 stars)
4. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (public: moderated by theficionado - 31 stars)
5. Black Comedy (public: moderated by Dorkovsky - 29 stars)
6. Male Frontal Nudity (public: moderated by bobyang - 7 stars)
7. THE WORLDWIDE CELLULOID MASSACRE: Recommended (public: moderated by edkrak - 6 stars)
8. Filmsite.org - Sex in the Movies, An Illustrated History (public: moderated by afx237vi - 5 stars)
9. Sacha Vierny, Cinematographer (public: moderated by epiphany - 4 stars)
10. Capsules, guest reviews, list candidates... (366weirdmovies) (public: moderated by sesito71 - 3 stars)
11. Michael Nyman (composer) (public: moderated by djross - 1 star)
12. Female Bath Scene (public - 1 star)
13. Naked Female Swimming (public - 1 star)
14. British director (public: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)
15. Cannes 1988 Official Selection (public)
16. DtC Doubling the Canon 2021 Nominees (public: moderated by lineuphere)
17. Fantastic and surreal (private: juandr - 8 stars)
18. similar to julien donkey boy (private: kikifas - 8 stars)
19. 1: Must-see (private: KasperL)
20. 1988: Year in Review (private: polanski28)
21. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 26 (private: PeaceAnarchy)
22. Movies to See: Comedy (private: Lord Moe)
23. Rewatches (private: maksler)
24. D:Movies (private: ptkw)
25. toucé (private: rnest)
26. Cast aAwayAdam (private: rnest)
27. My ratings (private: tpbradbury)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
1 | ![]() |
MartinTeller | 93 97% |
Greenaway indulges his usual fetishes regarding counting, categorizing and cataloging, and the labyrinthine rules for the various games in the film is evidence of his love for complicated bits of information. But beyond this is a very involving story, memorable characters and performances, some terrific black comedy, and heart-rending emotional moments. Not as difficult as The Falls, nor as grotesque as Cook Thief Wife Lover, I believe this is his finest film, or at least the easiest to enjoy.
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1 | triffid | 94 95% |
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Okay, I've seen this only once (yet) and that is certainly not enough. But it's a quirky, many-layered, both hilarious and sad, visually original and beautiful film that's much deeper than it seems at first glance. It will take at least one more viewing before I'll claim it's a masterpiece, but it probably is. Highly recommended.
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muutanet | 72 68% |
Who said the countryside life is boring. Peter Greenaway is a photographer and you can see it from his movies: they are colorful, in any kind of way. In this flick you can see his love for numbers. There's three women (or just one), lots of open nudity, conspiracy, blackmail, sex, insects and a numerous other details in both story and picture. I've seen many his movies and this is not actually bad one. Need to rerun the rest of them as well. :7
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KMcNeil | 10 98% |
"Once you've counted a hundred, all the other hundreds are the same."
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Prince Sandy | 86 90% |
There is something about Greenaway's style that I love. He has a knack of showing ugliness and beauty at the same time, like the decaying beauty of autumn.
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Okkervil | 92 98% |
As beautiful and mesmerising as much as it is idiosyncratic and bewildering. Bernard Hill really was great in this; full of presence and poise. Greenaway's visual style and use of music are right up my street and "Drowning by Numbers" had me transfixed from start to finish. I wonder how many times Wes Anderson watched this film?
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DavidBlast | 90 92% |
Truly awesome film-making. You feel that Peter Greenaway is sitting behind you, hitting you with a ruler whilst saying: "You're stupid and uneducated, you're stupid and uneducated, you're stupid and uneducated." And that's a good thing.
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Average Percentile 65.68% from 391 Ratings | ![]() |